ROME – Social leasing to allow low-income families to purchase or rent an electric car too, promised by Macron in the electoral campaign, is about to become a reality. For now in France, where the project has been included in the draft of the 2023 Budget. But it also represents an excellent opportunity for all EU countries grappling with the mass diffusion of electric mobility.
This is the opinion of the environmental NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) which, together with the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), has developed a 9-point action plan which, between 2024 and By 2030, it should allow 900,000 less well-off families to benefit from ‘social leasing’, with fees ranging between 70 and 200 euros per month depending on the size of the vehicle. A volume which, according to estimates by T&E and IDDRI, could represent 15% of electric vehicles in circulation but which, to be achieved, will have to see not only the direct involvement of the State but also of the entire automotive supply chain.
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Indeed, according to the study, the real obstacle to the final scope of ‘social leasing’ would be the absence of economical electric vehicles manufactured in France or in Europe. For this reason, the State should stipulate a contract with the entire French and European automotive supply chain, inducing them to produce electric vehicles suitable for the needs of ‘social leasing’, i.e. sober and small in size (from microcars to compact A and B sedans). For its part, the State should ensure to the builders the ”progressiveness and sustainability of the financing of the plant over several years”. So that ‘social leasing’ is not perceived ”as a diversion of one’s production capacity towards low-cost and low-margin vehicles but, on the contrary, as an additional market, with guaranteed orders and minimal financial risk”.
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In order to be able to offer convenient rentals, vehicles produced for social leasing will have to focus on a few models and with essential equipment, but also have low advertising and distribution costs for manufacturers, as well as an adequate level of equipment and performance. Taking all these factors into account, T&E and IDDRI estimate that the cost price of cars could be lowered by 20 to 30% from that of the current market. These savings will make it possible to offer leasing formulas starting from 100 euros per month for a model equivalent to the electric Twingo, or 150 euros for the equivalent of a Peugeot e-208. Furthermore, maintenance and repairs will have to be included in the leasing contract, which also implies the involvement of the sector concerned.
According to the T&E and IDDRI project, electric vehicles would be purchased through a dedicated body, which brings together the state, private lenders (banks, leasing companies) and local authorities, to then be leased. With regard to cost, according to the analysis, social leasing would represent around 800 million euros per year of direct aid paid by the State, which would subsidize from 27 to 34% of the cost of the vehicle, depending on the resources of families.
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To finance the measure, the study proposes a progressive reduction in the amount of the ecological bonus (which largely benefits the wealthiest motorists) in favor of an increase in ‘social leasing’. In addition, one could think of the possibility for local authorities to disburse aid of between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per vehicle.
In short, an ambitious project for France but also – the study specifies – an opportunity for all EU countries, which in fact could also support it through European funds, in particular through the Social Fund for the climate. But above all a project which, distributed in several countries, will be able to strengthen the industrial policy of the states to direct production towards vehicles that are truly more efficient in consumption and suitable for everyone’s needs, thus contributing to “green reindustrialisation” on a European scale.